Obama still believes in bipartisanship, Plouffe says

1/20/13 9:25 AM EST

President Barack Obama's more combative tone in recent weeks doesn't mean he's given up on working with Republicans, senior adviser David Plouffe said Sunday.

"We think bipartisan[ship] is eminently possible," Plouffe said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The challenge, he said, is that some congressional Republicans are opposed to any action.

"The barrier to progress here in many respects, whether it's deficits, measures to help the economy, immigration, gun safety legislation, there's huge support amongst all independents, Democrats and Republicans throughout the country," he said. "The barrier is there's factions here in Congress, Republicans in Congress who are out of the mainstream. So we need to bring the American people into these debates."

On the debt ceiling and on gun issues, Obama has chosen to speak in stark terms in hopes of "trying to enlist the American people in these debates," Plouffe said. "The only way change is going to happen, we make progress, is the American people. It's one of the lessons of the first term. They need to be involved at the center of this and pushing here."